So I’m a Fish, So What?

Now that I’ve finally gained my awaited new attack method, I need to get it up to the maximum level as soon as possible.

A minor level 1 poison definitely isn’t playing a role in battles any time soon, but the physical spikes themselves can instantly kill if shot at the right angle.

My mental processes have become a lot smoother as my current race’s brain is larger and more complicated than the previous one, Manager-san even stopped working on analyzing Heretic Nullification and started re-applying my soul-powered thought acceleration.

I believe the system-type Thought Acceleration will get maxed out as soon as that’s over, and skill analysis time would be cut off by at least half.

Future Sight combined with Thought acceleration lets me peek into the future while stretching my own time perception, if I can’t land my spikes after using those two, then I might as well go back and get eaten by the leviathan...

But before I do anything, I have to address the issue that just popped up.

I’m fucking starving!! This freaking evolution drained my entire overeating stock and over half of my normal red stamina bar!

Normally, I’d have a large stash of food waiting for me, but this time, I clicked on the start evolution button instantly out of excitement...

Well, I was gonna test my aim anyways, so it’s not much of a problem.

Luckily, I had the foresight to expand my den a while before I satisfied the evolution conditions, otherwise, I’d be stuck in here for a while.

Leaving my home, I use my larger sphere to search for prey in the vicinity.

There’s actually a giant crab nearby, it’s similar to the one from back when I was still in the vertical snake hole.

Although leviathan-san already took revenge for me, I’d still like to kill one myself.

Circling around, I find the previously detected weakness of large crabs, their fragile back shells.

I’d normally launch spikes at it as if I’m using a Gatling gun since it’s my first time playing with this skill, but I go for precise deadly precision due to my low SP.

Lining up my shot, I use Expel to shoot a spike from my side fin right into the center of the fragile section. Bullseye!

Those spikes are part of my body, so they’re as strong as me. A more detailed description is that this little toothpick-like spike has my attack ability stats applied to it for damage and my defense ability applied for durability.

While I couldn’t even scratch the huge crab’s shell if I did my best back then, I’m at least a couple of hundred times stronger now, this directly led to the spike piercing through the shell like a hot knife cutting butter.

A crab’s unprotected body is very fragile, just like a Blobfish without scales, so the spike traveled through its body unimpeded until it reached its final destination, the brain.

 

{Acquired skill [Life LV 1].}

{Condition Satisfied. Acquired title [Monster Slayer].}

{Acquired skill [Strength LV 1] [Solidity LV 1] as a result of title [Monster Slayer].}

 

And that’s it, the crab’s dead.

...To think I killed the monster that drove me out of my first resting place so easily.

This is the first time I actually realize how much I’ve progressed since my second reincarnation.

Checking my achievements always gives me a sense of fulfillment and makes any doubts I have about my choices fade away.

Though this bubbly feeling gets swept away right as I encounter the next problem.

I’d love to eat this crab right away, but the pesky shell stays solid even if it’s dead, denying me access to my hard-earned spoils!

What’s even more irritating is that I specialize in piercing, not cutting or crushing, so it’ll a while to break it open.

Dammit! Are crabs my nemesis or something?!

I was driven out of my first home by a crab, the first creature that hurt me in this world was by a crab, some sniper crabs nearly killed me in a shooting game, and now a fucking crab is preventing me from eating!

Unforgiveable...!!

 

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Anger LV 1] has become [Anger LV 2].}

 

Hey, that’s bad. Calm down me. C’mon, deep breaths.

Phew... That skill gains proficiency way too easily, huh?

Gotta be more careful; Some skills are absolute traps for me right now.

After a quick examination of the surroundings, I find a nice pointy rock.

Bashing the crab’s shell with it should apply my stats as both crushing and piercing damage.

Proving my assumption right, the shell is easily broken with a single hit.

Looking at the fantastic sight revealed under the shell remains, I jump in without delay, hunger is the biggest enemy!

Huh, it tastes wonderful! Maybe crabs are made to be exterminated after all...

Yup, that must be it. Munch munch.

And who am I to defy the will of the world, right? I’ll go crab fishing frequently in the future, and I can come back to the caverns at any time with just a bit of Spatial Magic! Chomp.

 

Thanks for the meal.

Low stamina death avoided successfully. Now, I wonder how much stamina creating a spike costs...

To answer my question, I regenerate the missing spike. That was 10 stamina, hmm.

I believe Kumoko’s Poison Fang didn’t use that much, but then again, she only created poison and injected it through her fangs while I gotta create an entire spike and create poison to fill it at the same time.

All in all, it’s acceptable for me. I’m finally consuming that unmoving MP bar as well!

I always hated leaving my MP bar full in video games before. It’s gonna regenerate anyways, so the time my bar remains full is equivalent to wasted magic power in my mind.

Oh, now that I think about it, I gained the Monster Slayer title and three stat skills from that...

So, my previous evolutions really had restrictions on acquiring them.

I don’t really need stat-increasing skills now that I have Greed, but the recovery speed and lessened consumption skills are a different story.

Okay, that crab kill didn’t give a good estimation of my current damage, attacking the weak points and brain is considered a critical strike after all.

But there’s an easy target included in my revenge list lying around nearby, isn’t there?

Sniper crabs’ defensive ability is just a bit lower than my offensive one, this means that I should be able to break through their shells head-on with the attached enhancements and title bonuses to my attacks.

Pulling up my mini-map, I adjust my route to the location where I was attacked.

I arrive a couple of minutes later, but unfortunately, there’s no trace of them nearby. Of course, they would move, they’re not fixed turrets...

Sighing, lamenting my missed chance at experiencing the sweet taste of vengeance, I start wandering around the cave system.

Guess I’ll go hunting for enemies with useful stat skills for now...

---

 

Same room, different time, the evil goddess D is still sitting in front of her computer monitor.

“This is surprising, even for me. I’ve never seen such a fit between a person and a ruler skill before. Her divinity field seems to be passively expanding outside the system’s bounds as well, she might even achieve a 1:1 steal ratio in the future.”

Her every unchanging expression has difficulty keeping up with what she’s seen, as her dead eyes seem to have brightened ever so slightly, something that last happened thousands of years ago.

“Maybe she can actually do it. Even if she fails, the entertainment she provides would surely suffice for hundreds of years in the future.”

 Staring at her screen, she watches as Tomoko not only breaks through the shackles of her masterpiece but goes beyond that and takes advantage of its loopholes to achieve the impossible.

“Using Greed to evolve into the most suitable race for you is fascinating, but I’d love to see your reaction when you find out the true repercussions of doing so.”

Zooming out, she slowly takes in the view of the area around Tomoko.

She seems to be randomly checking around for a while until her eyes stop on a certain location, then a tiny unnoticeable smile creeps onto her lips upon making a little discovery.

“It seems as if she has the blessings of the goddess of luck, huh? And I’ve played right into her hands. If she goes about it the right way, she might break through the last shackle in my system. Ahhh, what a wonderful scene that would be.”

Pressing her keyboard keys in a specific order, what’s shown changes to a completely pitch-black screen.

Upon taking a closer look, however, you can notice some tiny light spots floating around carried by either wind or water currents.

A vertical eye lazily opens up and focuses on an angle that makes it seem as if it can see D right through her monitor.

“Why are you peeping at me again, D? We made a pact some centuries ago, did we not?”

An unknown female voice full of pressure and majesty suddenly comes through her computer speakers.

“Oh dear, I only came to inform you that one of my newest toys got lost near your domain.”

“...Although I don’t know what you’re up to nowadays, I don’t care as long as the world survives.”

“Ahhh, then you might be interested in sharing this toy with me. I’ve gotta warn you though, this one’s my favorite in a long time so only I get to break it.”

“Humph... I’ll decide what to do after I see it with my own eyes.”

The eye shuts close again, its owner seemingly losing interest in the conversation.

D’s eyes linger on the monitor for a while, then she starts pressing another series of keys on her keyboard while giving the owner of the eye a final message.

“After seeing with your own eyes, huh? So, you’ll finally get out of your little hibernation state and actively get involved in my game! Now that’s a pleasant development, I hope you enjoy your time like I certainly will.”

Getting no further replies until the end of the key sequence, the screen changes to a scene of a taratect monster laying down in a deep sleep amongst its webs.

“Now, how will you deal with this development, little fish?”